Where trade unionists start their day on the net.
In this week's mailing:
* Exploited, fired, expelled - and fighting back
* Campaign updates
* Our book of the week
EXPLOITED, FIRED, EXPELLED - AND FIGHTING BACK
Migrant workers employed at the French-based fast food chain Buffalo Grill have occupied a Parisian restaurant after being denounced to the authorities and fired or pressured to quit their jobs. The workers, mostly of African origin, many with years of employment at the chain, face expulsion from France.
For more information, and to send a messasge in support of their struggle, click here:
http://www.iuf.org/den4313
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CAMPAIGN UPDATES
It has now been nearly 4 weeks since Russian dockers' leader Mikhail Chesalin was brutally stabbed and beaten, and we are still waiting for justice. The International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) has joined the call for an investigation. Please make sure to send out your message of protest today:
http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=265
That campaign is now working in six languages and has gotten the support of over 3,300 of you. But we need many more messages -- please pass this message on to your co-workers and other members of your union.
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OUR BOOK OF THE WEEK
Many workers in the United States have long understood that NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement) has been a disaster, with more than two million jobs leaving the country for lower-wage countries following the law's passage in 1994. But relatively few Americans know what a nightmare NAFTA has been for Mexican workers -- the people who, the agreement's proponents argued, would be lifted from poverty and be turned into serious consumers of American goods.
In testimonies from scores of Mexicans, "Nafta from Below" details the terrible impact NAFTA has had south of the border. These first-hand accounts of workers organizing for their rights, of farmers and indigenous peoples fighting to preserve their land, and of efforts north and south to build alternatives, document the courage of ordinary people who dare to join together and fight.
Order your copies (in English or Spanish) here -- and remember that every book you purchase from this unionized bookshop also benefit LabourStart:
http://www.labourstart.org/bookoftheweek
Thanks.
Eric Lee
Texts appearing here are often press releases sent to us by unions and other organizations which do not appear elsewhere on the web. LabourStart takes no responsibility for their content.